Damn You Yahoo! Damn You to Hell!!!

I just got a massage from a friend that my Yahoo Mail account was hacked (it sent-out a whole lot of letters, beyond my control), but there is no way I can talk with him because the damn thing dont work right! For the past month or so, I can read and receive messages, but I cannot compose them — the rich text is too rich for my system. I figured-out the problem (after some Goggling, I found-out that it cant handle theme-changes), the goddamn "Send" button is grayed-out and useless! Shit, if its not one thing, its another!!! I have spent a good part of the morning figuring things out. (Mostly readings FAQs and Goggling-up Q&A forums)

I *could* get a new e-mail account, but I'm too nested with this account — switching over too much of a hassle. I have NEVER, EVER had problems like this before the automatic upgrade! If I cant resolve this stupid shit, I would be forced to change account.

For months, about a year ago, it would flack me about the upgrade. It says it was better, but when I tried it out, it was shitty, so I swished back. Then one day, it said that they are getting rid of the old system, so the switch was mandatory. The new system only adds a better appearance (a superficial thing at that), and programing is set to Kafkaesque. The options are limited and useless! That seems to be the motto of computer programing: "If it works well, lets make it shitty!"

So if I was really hack, I know not... For all I know, the system is just *that* buggy! So now I wait in limbo, unable to send out letters to anyone, unless I PM them on forums (unfortunately, such a gap is not possible with some).

Other random-ass rants:

• Cuntcast (Comcast Cable) wanted my to pay $90 a month for fucking basic cable! OK, I understand that they need to pay maintenance and wages, but they also promote their services with local ads. Now, how do local TV and radio station pay for their broadcasting when they offer programing for free? Advertisements! So they are making a mint with the normal bills and with ad money. Fuck them! I ended their services, and I enjoyed months of free services -- how is should be! Then they cut me off. I have no TV antenna, so now I have been watching shows an Netflix and Hulu. In the past week, I was given a Roku 2 HD as a belated Christmas gift. I highly recommend the Roku. It has lots of great programs!
• When opening a new tab on my Firefox, AVG (a necessary evil that keeps my system form getting a computerized equivalent of an STD) like to redirect the page to their own search page. This happens a lot and usually when checking out blogs.
• I work on a number Wiki sites, and I post images relevant to the fiction at hand, even if the content is "questionable." Let say you where to add images of characters from the Gods of War video games to the Gods of War Wikia. Well yeah, there are a number of the female characters with their tits out, but when you have a wiki of a setting like that, you should expect content like that... But not high and mighty moralist cunt-monkeys like Sannse! (a Wikia Staffer) They would knockdown images they consider being too risqué, even if it is appropriate to the setting at hand.
• With the last rant, my issue goes beyond their absurd content-control policies. My real issue is why boobs are still an issue? A movie where a guy gets violently hacked apart: "No problem, its is only a PG-13 film." But it also has lady-nipples: "Change it to a solid R-rating!" Nipples are not obscene things. Making them risqué objects only elevates them as highly desirable sex objects! Female legs and navels used to be really risqué, but now its not longer an issue as we have seen them, and me have gone beyond them. If female nipples get over-saturated in our media, they will quickly loose they sexual power. This sense of modestly should be elevated as a national embarrassment! It only shows that we are just a nation of immature 13-year old boys.

My New Toy

For some time, I have been needing a graphic tablet. I held it off as I have been adverse to Photoshopped art, so I did not bother with it. Back in High School Computer Art and Illustration class, in the late '90s, I would draw stuff with just the mouse and I was really good at it. Unfortunately, this would prove bad an my wrists (although, normal computer-use is not helped matters ether). As an artist, I always felt more comfortable with traditional mediums, so I focused more on that. Although I have really developed my skills with penciling, line-drawing, painting (and if I had a way to get more green stuff, then miniature sculpting), but I know that the most efficient way to paint is with a tablet and a stylist. That is, if I make a mistake, I can 'undo' it, instead of whitewashing it out. I have a greater range of colors with a PC, and I can quickly make duplicates for multiple alterations (in case I want to work on paint schemes for vehicles and uniforms, or the like). And I can do a lot more things with an art program, then with traditional mediums.

So I looked into it, did some research and found most tablet computers (Androids, iPads and the like) to be too pricy or the systems were not to my liking. I then opted for a graphics tablet. The best one for my price-range was the $80 Wacom Bamboo (that is not a lot of money for most people, but for me, its a lot). Some money I got for the Holidays and the last commission has sent me over the budget for the device. I ordered it last week, and it came yesterday.

It is fun! The writing recognition takes too much initiative with how it thinks the letters should be (I'm quite dependent on spell-checkers, but I hate those that make mistakes that are WAAAYYY off base), but I don't really use that program, nor did I get it for that. Although, I'm still getting the hang of the drawing and painting, it handles great! I have found on DeviantArt, tutorials on using art programs — namely Gimp. They give great advice on many of the advanced functions, as well as tips on exploiting them.

As a plus, it also works as a mouse. Hell, it works better then a mouse! THIS GRAPHIC TABLET MAKES ME HATE MY MOUSE EVEN MORE!!! I never did liked the mouse! I always found them to be awkward and unintuitive, and they are wrong on the wrist (in fact, I changed my mouse to left-handed, to save my drawing-hand from further injury, and it really helped). I would rather have graphics tablets the default peripheral them the goddamn mouse!

Some day, I will get a tablet computer. But until then, I'm going to make the most out of my new toy! =D